Can We Keep Him?
by apollyon1991
Summary: Young Kaito always wanted a pet to call his very own. So when one day he finds a strange boy complete with fluffy fox ears and a tail and no memories, what else can he ask but "Can we keep him?"


**Well, here we are, at the beginning of my second ever story. It feels good. For those of you who have seen my previous work, "So Close Yet So Far," I'm glad that you enjoy my work enough to read this story as well. For those of you who have never heard of me, I hope you enjoy the story and consider reading my other work. **

**Now then, I should warn you that I have no idea how well this story will work. I'm confident in the story concept, just not my ability to execute it. So please be patient.**

**Also, I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Agent Chase P. Lankly was officially having a bad day and the headache steadily building in the back of his skull told him that it wasn't going to be getting any better. It had all started early that morning when his alarm had failed to go off, causing him to over sleep. This, of course, had led to the rather unwelcome and very unpleasant wake-up call that he had received from his boss, whom his coworkers affectionately dubbed "the chief". His sleep muddled mind had not been able to catch everything that the chief had yelled at him, but he had gotten the gist of it. He was more than four hours late, blah blah blah, threats to his life and career, blah blah blah, a lot of obscenities… and he had been given a new case. He had to travel to a small town in the middle of nowhere, where they had been receiving reports of a strange boy being taken to the local hospital. They hadn't been able to get many details from the panicked medical staff, but who – or whatever it was had already managed to injure several nurses and put one unlucky doctor in a near coma by the time that they were contacted. Whatever they had, it was both strange and dangerous; which meant that it fell squarely in his territory.

It was his job – or rather his department's job to investigate the many strange and bizarre things that cropped up across the nation. These anomalies included everything from unusual animals, to strange events, and even people… especially people. They maintained constant vigilance. And when an anomaly garnered enough attention to grab their interest, they would move in to investigate. They would track down the anomaly and study it thoroughly to glean what knowledge they could from it. Then, once they had learned everything that they could, they would make a judgment. If the anomaly was deemed safe for the general population, they would take their leave and allow the anomaly to resume its natural course. If, however, it was decided that it was a threat to either national security or to the local populace, they would hunt it down with extreme prejudice. By the sound of it, this boy had already resigned himself to the second category.

And so he hurriedly got dressed and ran out the door, neglecting breakfast in his rush, and rushed to the airport. Now, after four hours of flight, another two hours of driving, and an hour of fighting his way through red tape at the hospital, as he was finally being escorted to the subject's room and the caffeine withdrawal set it, he really regretted skipping his morning meal. Still, he pushed the annoyance aside and focused on the nurse – whose name he couldn't quite remember – walking in front of him as she gave him details on their latest "patient."

"He is extremely violent when conscious as I am sure you already know. Several employees were injured before they managed to strap him down. Since then we haven't dared to release him."

Chase frowned. "Why not just sedate him?"

"We tried, sir. Nothing works – at least not for very long. We've given him things that would send most people into a coma. It only knocked him out for an hour at first. Then it didn't do anything at all. His body can develop immunity at an astounding rate." The nurse explained as she handed him a list of the drugs that they had tried. Chase had to admit, it certainly looked like they had tried everything.

Next he was handed several x-ray images. They were labeled as belonging to the "patient" but that couldn't possibly be correct. "What am I looking at?" he finally asked.

The nurse stopped to look at the images with him. "You have been informed of the patient's… unique physical traits, correct?" Chase nodded. It had been in the initial report. The subject had been discovered to possess several… animalistic traits. Finger and toe nails that were much harder and sharper than they should be; large canine teeth indicative of a predator; and – oh yeah! A long red fluffy fox tail and two fox ears of the same color sitting on top of his head instead of normal human ears. The kid was a real freak. "Well, when he first arrived, he was unconscious and we were able to take some x-rays. At first we thought that the tail and ears were prosthetic – surgically added. It would have been unusual, but not totally unheard of. But as you can see here that isn't the case." She pointed to an x-ray that showed the subject's tailbone. It seemed fairly normal except that the skeletal structure extended far beyond what it should have, clearly forming a tail. Then she pointed to the imaging of the subject's skull. He could see how the ears sat atop his head. "These bones are meshed perfectly with the rest of his skeletal structure. That means that they were either implanted by the best plastic surgeon the world has ever seen; or they grew there naturally."

Chase just nodded. "Anything else?"

"Well, there is one thing…" The nurse began hesitantly. "We took some blood samples. Ran them through the usual tests. We checked his various blood levels and looked for any diseases that might have needed special treatment. He's the picture of health, you know, aside from the obvious." She started walking again. "But just a few days before you arrived, we received the results of the DNA tests that we sent out. You know, we only sent them as an afterthought. We thought that we might get lucky and find whatever genetic mutation that led to the…deformities."

The nurse hesitated. "And?" Chase pushed.

"He's not human – or at least his genetics aren't." She blurted out.

That left Chase rather confused. If he wasn't human, than what was he? He decided to voice the question out loud. The nurse was silent for a moment before she replied. "We don't know."

Chase grunted in acknowledgement and examined the door that they had stopped in front of. It was numbered 666B and there was a sign posted on it that read "Warning: Toxic Contents. Do Not Enter."

Spotting what he was looking at, the nurse explained. "The sign is to dissuade the curious. As for the room number… I think it was someone's idea of a joke. "Again, Chase just grunted and moved to open the door.

* * *

While Chase had been chatting with the nurse, a blonde on the other side of the door had just returned to consciousness. Blinking to clear his vision, the blonde quickly realized that he had not moved since the last time he had awoken. He was still surrounded by an almost painful amount of white. The air still stunk of sickness and death. And his arms and legs were still pinned. That meant that he was still their captive. He had woken up in this place a number of times and each time they had appeared. He would still be shaking off the remnants of sleep when they would come barging in. They were strange creatures. They looked so much like him but were still so different. For a time, he thought that they might have been like him. But if they were, they were clearly deformed. Their ears were rounded and mounted on the sides of their heads. Their skins were wrinkly and loose and painted all kinds of strange colors. And none of them – not even one of them – had a tail. It was disturbing. Once they appeared, he would feel a slight prick and moments later he would be overcome by darkness.

But this time something was different. They were still there. He could hear them outside making those strange guttural noises. But he was fully awake now and they still had not come barging in. Whatever the reason, he now had a chance at freedom and he wasn't going to waste it. Gathering up some strength, he gave a mighty tug. The leather straps around his wrists and ankles resisted only for a moment before breaking with an audible snap! Instantly, he was making a dash for the exit. He didn't know how it worked but he had seen the creatures use it a number of times and knew that particular section of wall would swing open. Had he known that the door only opened one way, he might have thought twice about what he was doing. But he didn't. And so he charged on.

* * *

As luck would have it, officer Chase Lankly chose that moment to enter the room. Chase was just barely able to duck back out into the hallway before the blonde ran by. In the brief moment that they passed each other, Chase had already begun to observe the details of the escapee's appearance: tan skin; a head of wild blonde hair with two fiery red, triangularly shaped ears sitting on top. A long fluffy tail the same color of his ears stuck out from the back of his hospital gown. By the time he disappeared around the corner, Chase had a clear mental image of whom he would be chasing. And by the time he rounded the second corner; Chase had already contacted the hospital's security staff and told them to guard the exits. He didn't hold much hope that they would actually catch the kid – not at the rate he was moving. But if they could just stall long enough for him to make a few phone calls and get some reinforcements; it would make catching him later that much easier. Ignoring the chaos that had broken out around him, Chase began to calmly make his way towards his car. The kid would get away, but not for long.

* * *

The blonde fox boy ducked and weaved as he ran through the hallways. Everywhere he went, he would run into more of those strange creatures. Some would be standing in his way and would either hurry to get out of the way, or stand there – frozen in shock – and force him to run around them to avoid a collision. Others would stick their heads out of adjacent rooms to investigate the commotion. And every time he took a moment to sniff the air, he would catch the scent of hundreds more around him. It made him nervous to be so surrounded by the unfamiliar; but thankfully the thought of freedom – and the excitement it brought him – kept his anxiety in check.

Still as time went on and he still found no sign of an exit, his worry grew. He was trapped in a maze and he felt panic creep up on him each time he rounded a corner only to be confronted with more hallways. Finally, just as he was about to lose hope, he caught a glimpse of the outside to his right. Skidding to a halt, he peered down the corridor that he had just been about to pass. And there, at the end of the hallway, he could see a large rectangular window. Checking once to make sure that the coast was clear, he made a break for the large opening and the freedom beyond.

* * *

"Damn." Chase swore to himself as he put away his cellphone. He hadn't even made it halfway to his car before he had been called and informed that the subject had already escaped the building. He had barely had enough time to report the situation to his superiors. He still needed to put together a subject profile, contact the local authorities; and it probably wouldn't hurt to request a canine unit while he was at it. And then he would have to do the one thing that he dreaded the most. He would have to call his partner and let her know how he had failed to contain the situation and then ask for her help. He could practically feel the lecture that he was going to get. He sighed as he approached the black SUV that he had rented at the airport. He supposed he couldn't be too upset with the hospital staff for losing the subject. After all, who would have expected him to jump out through a window six stories above the ground?

* * *

A few miles away, the ringing of a bell could be heard as the children of Grant Memorial Elementary School were freed from the confines of their classrooms and released upon the world. They would run across the playground. Some would run to climb on the various pieces of playground equipment, others would chose to play in the grassy field, and a brave few would make a break for the woods just beyond the school grounds before being called back by the teachers. The air was full of the scent of grass and the laughter of children. Running among these children was eight year old Kaito Seinaru. Though his light blonde hair and pale lavender eyes wouldn't suggest it, he was the youngest of a proud Japanese-American family… or at least his parents were proud. They had moved to America from Tokyo, Japan when he was only one year old and his sister, Shion Seinaru, had been seven. He had no memories of his native home land and his sister only had vague images, so neither of them had very strong attachments. Or perhaps they simply weren't old enough yet. "You'll understand when you're older." Their father would always say. He never really knew what that was supposed to mean and he didn't really care. He had enough to worry about with school and friends and obnoxious older sisters. And today he had one more thing to add to his list. His sister, who was supposed to pick him up after school so that they could walk home together, was late.

This wasn't an unusual occurrence. Being a typical irresponsible fourteen year old girl, Shion was prone to "forget" about him, at least for an hour or two. He didn't really mind. Normally he would just stay with the teachers and play with his friends until she showed up. But today his friends had all already gone home and he was quickly becoming very bored. He was just about to go inside to try and find something to do there when a bit of movement caught his attention. He turned in time to see rustling bushes and a flash of bright red. His curiosity was peaked instantly. Seeing that there was only one teacher around – and that that teacher was currently busy with a kindergartener who had suffered a rather nasty scrape – he decided that it couldn't hurt to investigate.

* * *

Blood mixed with water as the fox boy continued to clean himself in the small stream that he had found. The opening had granted him freedom, just as he had suspected, but at a price. Something – he didn't know what – had gotten in his way. There had been some sort of invisible barrier covering the exit. He had broken through it easily enough; but it had shattered into thousands of tiny, razor sharp fragments that cut him terribly – some even getting lodged in the wounds. Dropping hundreds of feet to the ground below probably didn't help. But as much as the jump and the landing had injured him, the subsequent run through the forest had been much worse. Each stride ground the lingering shards further into his cuts and caused his heart rate to climb, pumping even more blood out of his body. But he had been too hopped up on adrenaline to notice at the time and had kept running for another hour before he finally felt safe. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off he was finally able to feel the full extent of his injuries. His arms and legs ached from the harsh fall. He was covered from head to toe in cuts of various sizes – many of which were still bleeding. He was beginning to feel lightheaded from the blood loss and the growling of his stomach told him that it had been at least a couple of days since he had eaten. All in all… he was a mess. Still, he was finally free and even more importantly, he was free of that disturbing second skin. His body was healing quickly. The aches were already fading and he could see that most of the small cuts were already starting to heal. Once he had healed enough he would go out to look for something to fill his empty stomach.

He remained in that spot for perhaps another ten minutes, just resting, when the snapping of a twig alerted him to the presence of an intruder. Turning toward the sound, his muscle tensed as he prepared to either fight or flee. Neither was necessary. Standing before him was another one of those strange, similar-yet-different creatures. This one had blonde hair similar to his own and pale eyes (perhaps it was blind?). It also seemed to be very young as it was much smaller than the others that he had seen. Or perhaps it was just a runt that had been abandoned by its family. That would explain what it was doing alone in the middle of nowhere. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't a threat. Its body was too small – limbs too thin. His stomach growled. No, he wasn't threat but he would make an excellent meal.

* * *

Kaito stared in awe as he took in the form of the boy in front of him. With his clawed hands, sharp teeth, pointed fox ears, and a large tail; the boy looked like a character from one of his Saturday morning cartoons. He was a little grossed out by the fact that the boy was completely naked but that was easily outweighed by the excitement of what he had found. "Woah! That is so cool! Are those ears? Is that tail real? Can you pick stuff up with it? How did you get those? Could I get a tail like that? Hey, what are you doing out here naked anyway?" Kaito rattled off question after question, his eyes wide with excitement.

The poor fox boy was startled by the sudden onslaught. Taking a couple of clumsy steps backwards, he nearly tripped over his own tail in his attempt to distance himself from the loud creature. He stared as it continued to chatter – practically yelling at him in that strange language. His stomach growled.

The sound didn't go unnoticed by the younger boy. "Oh, are you hungry?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of beef jerky. "You can have this if you want. My parents always put these in my lunch and I don't really like them so…" He trailed off uncertainly when he saw the lack of comprehension on the other blonde's face. "Hey, are you okay? Can you understand what I'm saying?" Still, he just received a curious stare. Deciding to try a different tactic, he slowly held the meat out in front of him – silently offering it to the fox boy. At first, the boy refused to move; but a few minutes and a couple more reminders from his stomach had him slowly inching forward.

In a flash, the jerky had been snatched from his hand and the fox boy had retreated to a safe distance. He quickly devoured the meat and then smacked his lips as he took a brief moment to enjoy the spicy flavor. His stomach growled again and he realized that he was still hungry. He looked at the runt again. He didn't seem very dangerous, and that meat had tasted good. He approached again – this time with much less fear and trepidation – and began sniffing around for any more delicious food.

Kaito giggled as the fox boy's nose tickled his ribs before moving to sniff one of his pant legs. Bringing himself back under control, he got the older boy's attention. "If you want more, I have some back at my house." He said pointing in the general direction of home hoping his message would somehow make it through the language barrier between them. He guessed that he had been successful when the other blonde started to walk in the direction that he had been pointing. Not wanting to test his newfound friend's patience, he quickly fell into step beside him.

They walked together through the woods in silence for a time – Kaito leading the way slightly – but a boy his age can only keep quiet for so long. After the first few minutes, Kaito began to grow fidgety – constantly glancing at his companion. Finally, he couldn't take the silence anymore and blurted out the first thought that crossed his mind. "If we're going to be friends, then you need a name."

The fox boy just glanced at him without breaking stride – neither understanding nor really caring what he was saying – so the boy kept babbling. "I mean, it would be weird if I just kept calling you 'kid' or 'fox boy', right? And I was the one that found you, right? So I should be the one to get to name you, right?" He nodded to himself as he convinced himself of his own logic and started listing off any and names that came to his mind.

The fox boy stared at the runt somewhat confusedly out of the corner of his eye. It had been speaking in that strange language for several minutes now, and his speech had only grown more fervent since he began. How did it find the time to breathe with all that chattering? Surely it should have suffocated and passed out by now? The odd thing was that, even though most of what he was hearing was gibberish, he would sometimes hear something that would strike a chord with him. He didn't actually understand them as much as they just felt familiar.

One word in particular stood out to him. The moment the word "Naruto" crossed his ears he was assaulted by a barrage of images. The headache that accompanied these visions was nearly crippling and he was forced to his knees as he gripped his head in a desperate attempt to relieve the pain. What were these things he was seeing?

A single grey eye looked at him with fond exasperation from beneath a mop of spiky silver hair. A voice emerged from behind a concealed mouth. "Naruto"

That image replaced with another – this one of a figure with vivid pink hair. The voice that accompanied this one was full of righteous anger but held no real malice. "Naruto!"

He clinched his eyes shut. Where were the visions coming from? Why wouldn't they leave him alone?

Blonde hair, brown eyes, and a strangely massive chest. A fist appeared from seemingly nowhere, intent on inflicting maximum pain with only minimum damage. "Naruto!"

A pair of spinning red eyes glared at him with rage, betrayal, and a hint of insanity and held aloft by a pair of misshapen wings. They surged forward in a flash of fire and lightning. "Naruto!"

Kaito continued talking – too caught up in picking a name to notice the suffering of his newest friend. He had already gone through the names of his family, friends, his friend's pets, and basically every common name he could think of. He had just started to list the names from his favorite cartoons and manga in his attempt to find a name for his fluffy friend when he was struck by inspiration. "I've got it!" He shouted, pumping his fist in victory. "Your name will be – "

One final vision filled the fox boy's mind as the pain died away. This vision was filled with fire, and blood, and fear. A figure with a mane of spiky white hair and the distinct smell of toads stared up at him from the bottom of a smoldering crater. This time, the eyes that gazed up at him were filled with fear, and panic. A voice called out to him as the vision faded to black. "Naruto!"

" – Fluffy!"

* * *

**Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed it, at lest a little. Feedback is always welcome, though I reserve the right to completely and utterly reject your opinions for my own. I don't know how often I will be able to update - school takes up a lot of my time. But I will write when I can.**

**Until then, see you soon.**


End file.
